Power and Energy Commons^™

Woodward Cuk Converter, Aditi Venkatesh, Jennifer Pereira

Honors Capstones

The purpose of this senior design project is to design and build a Cuk converter, a type of buck–boost converter. The project involves developing an analytical model and validating it through hardware testing. Cuk converters are important because they are widely used in everyday electronics, particularly in renewable energy systems such as solar power, power supplies, and electric vehicles. Their ability to increase, decrease, and reverse the polarity of voltage makes them flexible. The continuous input and output currents result in low ripple, reducing component stress and improving efficiency. To achieve these goals, simulations will be conducted using LTspice to …

Implementation Of A Three-Port Solar Converter With A Battery Energy Storage System, Maison Christopher Phipps

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increasing deployment of distributed solar and energy storage systems has created the need for integrated power converters that can efficiently manage photovoltaic (PV) generation, battery energy storage, and grid-tied AC output. This thesis presents the implementation and validation of a 5kW non-isolated Three-Port Converter (TPC) adapted for residential solar applications. The converter consolidates three power stage into a high-frequency, compact architecture: a unidirectional boost converter for PV input, a bidirectional interleaved buck-boost converter for battery energy storage, and a configurable DC/AC inverter for 120Vac single-phase output. The system is controlled using a central controller implemented on a TI C2000™ …

Design And Development Of A Half-Bridge Llc Resonant Converter Laboratory Module, Alyssa Lam

Master's Theses

Resonant DC-DC converters have become a well-known solution in power supplies due to their ability to improve efficiency by utilizing soft-switching techniques. This further has caused a growing interest in industry to use these converters for high-switching-frequency, high-efficiency, and high-power applications such as EV charging stations, photovoltaic systems, battery chargers, etc. One particular resonant topology that has gained popularity in recent years is the LLC resonant converter. Due to the prevalent use of the LLC resonant converter, it is therefore crucial for students preparing for a career path in power electronics to become well-versed in the concept and implementation of …

Improvements To Cal Poly's Hybrid Ac/Dc House, Brandon Ng, Andrew Nguyen, Logan Tom

Electrical Engineering

This senior project details the improvements made to Cal Poly’s Hybrid AC/DC House project. The previous state of the house experienced issues with proper reading of the current power being drawn from the connected AC sources, as well as with the system’s multiple-input single-output converter, where thermal overheating of specific FETs prevented the system from reaching its maximum output power. The updates made to the AC/DC house include improved code to prevent faulty readings and display failure and a cleaned-up power monitoring board that removes noisy signals and allows for the correct power implementation to be displayed. In addition, the …

Development Of A Modular Dual-Phase And Single-Phase Buck Converter Laboratory Module, Maxwell John Kreizinger, Ethan David Robson

Electrical Engineering

This senior project entails the design, creation, and testing of a circuit board to exhibit the differences and advantages of the multiphase buck converter over the single-phase buck converter for use in a future power electronic laboratory experiment at Cal Poly State University. As energy demand requirements continually increase from more advanced and widespread use of technology, it is important to find a method of power delivery that maximizes efficiency while taking up as little area on a circuit board as possible. This is where the multiphase buck converter topology is desirable over the traditional single-phase buck converter topology. For …

Development Of A Versatile Switching Mode Inverter Laboratory Module, Zachariah Lee Mustar

Master's Theses

DC-AC converters, or inverters, are complex devices that play an essential role in photovoltaic, energy storage, and microgrid systems. Therefore, they constitute a class of power electronics that any power-focused electrical engineering student should be familiar with. This thesis presents the development and testing of a single device that power electronics students will use in a laboratory setting to experiment with each of the four different switching techniques employed in inverters: a simple square wave (SSWI), modified square wave (MSWI), bipolar PWM, and unipolar PWM. The module was built with a physically modifiable control stage and a power stage constituting …

Active And Reactive Power Flow Control Of The Dual Active Bridge Converter, Lauryn Morris, Thomas W. Francois, Jonathan Saelens, Oroghene Oboreh-Snapps, Arnold Fernandes, Praneeth Uddarraju, Sophia A. Strathman, Jonathan W. Kimball

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Dual Active Bridge (DAB) is a reliable and efficient converter capable of providing bi-directional power transfer and galvanic isolation. An ac-ac DAB can control both active and reactive power flow. The present work introduces a combined feedback/feed-forward current control system, utilizing the calculated and measured converter currents translated into the dq reference frame, to control the output power. The system was simulated in PLECS to demonstrate the control algorithm's ability to track the dq currents and provide the necessary output power.

Thermal Management Of Roadway-Embedded Power Electronics For Electric Vehicle Dynamic Wireless Charging Systems, Conner R. Sabin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining popularity worldwide. However, concerns raised by the public about purchasing EVs include the limited availability of charging infrastructure, high costs, and the inconvenience of current charging methods. Dynamic wireless charging systems enable electric vehicles to charge while driving, thereby extending the range of EVs and reducing the necessity for large, expensive batteries. Moreover, these systems can initiate charging automatically without user interaction, enhancing charging convenience.

The ground assembly of existing dynamic wireless charging systems consists of an electromagnetic assembly, power electronics for the transmitter pad, and power electronics for grid connection. Installation of these systems …

Design And Analysis Of A New Buck-Boost Converter With A Low-Side Switch, Abdullah Awidah

Master's Theses

This work explores the design, simulation, construction, and analysis of a novel Non-isolated DC-DC Buck-Boost converter which has the advantage of incorporating a low-side switch compared to the traditional buck-boost which requires a high-side switch. This allows the use of a low-side driver which further simplifies the design and operation of the converter. The proposed Buck-Boost converter was constructed to provide -24 V output from an input range of 12V-18V with 15V nominal input at 10W maximum output power utilizing 500kHz switching frequency. Findings from simulations and hardware tests verify that the converter effectively provides the desired -24 V output …

Design And Implementation Of High-Frequency Dc-Dc Converters For Ev Applications, Rahul Biswash

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The power electronics industry has been revolutionized by introducing wide bandgap semiconductor devices, such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). Due to their high frequency, high temperature, and high voltage operating capabilities, wide bandgap devices boast significant improvements in power density, efficiency, and reliability, as evidenced by their ability to decrease the size of power converters by operating at higher frequencies, temperatures and voltages, use of smaller and less passive components, such as transformers, inductors and capacitors, which makes power converters more compact and light-weight, ideal for space and weight-constrained applications, and compatibility with a wide range of …

Design And Analysis Of Zero Voltage Switching Hybrid Voltage Divider, Stephen Ulysses Alvarado Estrada

Master's Theses

This work explores the design, construction, and analysis of a novel DC-DC converter which incorporates combinations of switching capacitors and inductors to achieve an integer voltage divider function, without the need for a feedback loop controller to achieve the desired output voltage. The proposed Hybrid Voltage Divider additionally provides zero voltage switching (ZVS) at turn on transitions which yields improved overall efficiency of the converter. Besides a proof-of-concept via computer simulations, another primary goal of this thesis is to demonstrate the functionalities of the proposed Zero Voltage Switching Hybrid Voltage Divider (ZVS-HVD) through hardware prototyping. The proposed ZVS-HVD was designed …

Dc To Ac Inverter For A Microgrid-Inspired Power Distribution Architecture For Electric Vehicles, Bryan A. Carrillo Martinez, Eli Blacklock, Paul A. Samson, William S. Holt-Hillis

Electrical Engineering

This project builds upon the prototyping of a microgrid-inspired power distribution architecture for electric vehicles (EVs). The efficacy of this prototype aims to inform a full-scale power distribution system that charges an EV battery, supports the electric grid with important ancillary services, performs peer-to-peer EV charging, and works in conjunction with other AC and DC sources and loads. The scope of this report focuses specifically on the design, construction, and testing of the DC/AC inverter. Future development of this distribution architecture will incorporate synchronous generators, a battery management system, and an Arduino/Raspberry Pi-based communication system to fully simulate an electric …

Implementation Of Sic Power Electronics For Green Energy Based Electrification Of Transportation, Naireeta Deb

All Dissertations

Increase in greenhouse gas emission poses a threat to the quality of air thus threatening the future of living beings on earth. A large part of the emission is produced by transport vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) are a great solution to this threat. They will completely replace the high usage of hydrocarbons in the transport sector. Energy efficiency and reduced local pollution can also be expected with full implementation of electrification of transportation. However, the current grid is not prepared to take the power load of EV charging if it were to happen readily. Moreover, critics are doubtful about the …

Improved Compact Modeling Of High Voltage Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors, Md Maksudul Hossain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since power converters shape a wide range of power electronic applications, the 'heart' of these conversions, such as solid-state switches, is crucial for achieving higher power density, lower loss, and higher efficiency operations. Although the limitations imposed by silicon-based power devices have been reduced by introducing novel devices such as IGBTs and super junction MOSFETs to allow for broader applications, solutions beyond silicon have presented a continuous challenge to the device engineers. Driving these converters at a higher switching frequency allows for higher power density. However, to support a higher frequency and operating temperature, superior materials, e.g., wide bandgap materials, …

Modeling Supercritical Fluids And Fabricating Electret Films To Address Dielectric Challenges In High-Power-Density Systems, Farhina Haque

Theses and Dissertations

Wide bandgap (WBG) devices and power electronic converters (PEC) that enable the dynamic control of energy and high-power density designs inevitably contain defects including sharp edges, triple points, and cavities, which result in local electric field enhancements. The intensified local electric stresses cause either immediate dielectric breakdown or partial discharge (PD) that erodes electrical insulators and accelerates device aging. With the goal of addressing these dielectric challenges emerging in power-dense applications, this dissertation focuses on 1) modeling the dielectric characteristics of supercritical fluids (SCFs), which is a new dielectric medium with high dielectric strength and high cooling capability; and 2) …

Smart Usb-C Wall Plug For The Dc House Project, Ridge Lahti, Dino Maslic

Electrical Engineering

DC operated devices and appliances powered by AC systems suffer inefficiencies resulting from the losses of converting AC energy into DC energy. At Cal Poly, the DC House Project aims to minimize the need for AC electricity in homes and encourage the use of renewable energy systems. The DC House uses a 48V DC bus that must be stepped down for use with increasing number of DC loads in a typical home. In this project, a Smart USB-C Wall Plug is designed to work with USB Power Delivery to provide a variable voltage output for use with these DC loads …

Current-Source Dc-Dc Converter For Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, Jissell C. Jose

Master's Theses

In this thesis, a proof of concept for a current-source DC-DC converter for powering sensors used in an underwater communications system is presented. The proposed converter steps down an input current of 0.9 A to 0.625 A, while maintaining an output voltage of 24 V and output power of 15 W. The complete steady-state analysis and design of the proposed converter in its single-stage form is also explained in detail. Performance evaluation of the proposed converter was carried out using LTspice. Results of the simulation demonstrate that the design was able to produce average output current of 0.639 A at …

Stability Analysis Of Dc Microgrid With Constant Power Load, Sarah Ansari

Theses and Dissertations

Development towards sustainability has led to an increase in the integration of various distributed generation (DG) units like renewable sources of energy, energy storage systems (ESS). In order to counteract the challenges, caused due to integration of DG units into conventional power systems, the concept of DC microgrid (DCMG) has been introduced. DCMGs have power converters that are present on the source side and load side of the DCMGs. The power converters at the load side when tightly regulated behave as constant power loads (CPLs). There are stability issues pertaining to the inherent non-linear characteristic of the ideal CPLs because …

Nonmetallic Jet Impingement Thermal Management For Power Electronics Via Additive Manufacturing, Reece Whitt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increase in energy demanded by transportation and energy sectors has necessitated highly efficient thermal management for reliable power electronics operations. Conventional cooling techniques are limited by their inability to target switching location hot spot temperatures, leading to non-uniform thermal gradients. These devices, such as cold plates and heat sinks, also utilize heavy metallic structures that can accentuate electromagnetic interferences generated by high voltage switching processes. This work proposes a non-metallic jet impingement cooler for more customized thermal management, while simultaneously reducing the harmful effects of electromagnetic interferences. Additive manufacturing is utilized to enable jet impingement zones to target individual …

Mission Profile Effects On Automotive Drivetrain Electronics Reliability: Modeling And Mitigation, Bakhtiyar Mohammad Nafis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The reliability of electronic devices is dependent upon the conditions to which they are subject. Temperature variations coupled with differences in thermal expansion between bonded materials results in thermomechanical stresses to build up, which can instigate failure in the interconnects or other critical regions. With the move towards electrification in the automotive industry, there is the increasingly important consideration of powertrain electronics reliability, the pertinent conditions being governed by the drive cycle or mission profile of the vehicle. The mission profile determines the power dissipated by the electronic devices, which determines the peak and mean temperature, temperature swing and the …

Zero Voltage Switching Hybrid Voltage Divider Converter, Timothy Jeong

Master's Theses

This project proposes a new hybrid voltage divider DC-DC converter that utilizes switching capacitors and inductors to produce zero voltage switching (ZVS) at the turn on state of its switches. By achieving ZVS, the switching losses are significantly reduced; thus, increasing the overall efficiency of the converter at various loads. The goal for this thesis is to perform analysis of the operation of the converter, derive equations for sizing the main components, and demonstrate its functionality through computer simulation and hardware prototype. Results of the simulation and hardware testing show that the proposed converter produces the desired output voltage while …

An Accurate And Efficient Electro-Thermal Compact Model Of Sic Power Mosfet Including Third Quadrant Behavior, Arman Ur Rashid

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to narrower bandgap and lower critical electric field, silicon (Si) power devices have reached their limit in terms of the maximum blocking voltage capability. Exploiting this limitation, wide bandgap devices, namely silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) devices, are increasingly encroaching on the lucrative power electronics market. Unlike GaN, SiC devices can exploit most of the established fabrication techniques of Si power devices. Having substrate of the same material, vertical device structures with higher breakdown capabilities are feasible in SiC, unlike their GaN counterpart. Also, the excellent thermal conductivity of SiC, compared to GaN and Si, let SiC …

Design And Evaluation Of High Power, High Efficiency And High Power Density Motor Drives For More Electric Aircrafts, Zhao Yuan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More-electric aircraft (MEA) is an attractive concept as it can reduce carbon dioxide emission, relieve fossil-fuel consumption, improve the overall efficiency of aircraft, and reduce the operational costs. However, it poses substantial challenges in designing a high-performance motor drive system for such applications. In the report of Aircraft Technology Roadmap to 2050, the propulsion converter is required to be ultra-high efficiency, high power density, and high reliability. Though the wide band-gap devices, such as the Silicon-carbide based Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect (SiC-MOSFET), shows better switching performance and improved high-temperature performance compared to the silicon counterparts, applying it to the …

Conducted Emi Mitigation In Power Converters Using Active Emi Filters, Balaji Narayanasamy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wide bandgap devices enable high power density power converters. Despite the advantages of increased switching frequency, the passive components are still a major bottleneck towards enabling high power density. Among the passive components in the converter, the passive EMI filters are unavoidable to ensure compliance with conducted EMI standards. Active EMI filters help reduce the volume of the passive components and have been around for three decades now. Firstly, this work presents a summary of all the different active EMI filters based on the type of noise-sensing, noise-processing, the type of active circuits used and the type of control methods. …

Cascaded Linear Regulator With Negative Voltage Tracking Switching Regulator, Ernest Lei

Master's Theses

DC-DC converters can be separated into two main groups: switching converters and linear regulators. Linear regulators such as Low Dropout Regulators (LDOs) are straightforward to implement and have a very stable output with low voltage ripple. However, the efficiency of an LDO can fluctuate greatly, as the power dissipation is a function of the device’s input and output. On the other hand, a switching regulator uses a switch to regulate energy levels. These types of regulators are more versatile when a larger change of voltage is needed, as efficiency is relatively stable across larger steps of voltages. However, switching regulators …

Multiple Input Single Output Converter With Uneven Load Sharing Control For Improved System Efficiency, Kristen Y. Chan

Master's Theses

This paper presents the development and study of multiple-input single-output converter (MISO) for the DC House project that utilizes a controller to maximize the overall converter’s efficiency. The premise of this thesis is to create uneven load current sharing between the converters at different loading conditions in order to maximize the efficiency of the overall MISO converter. The goal is to find a proper ratio of current from each converter to the total load current of the MISO system to achieve the greatest efficiency. The Arduino microcontroller is implemented to achieve this goal. The design and operation of the MISO …

Very Low Power Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multiplier For Rf Energy Harvesting Applications, Trace Langdon

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A device was required that could harvest the electromagnetic energy present in ambient radio frequency (RF) signals. A part of this device must convert the AC RF signal received by the antenna into a DC signal that can be used in an embedded application. Since the RF signal amplitude is small, it must first be amplified and rectified to become a usable signal. The Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier is a subsystem of the design which ideally converts a 100 mV AC signal coming from the antenna to a 350 mV DC signal. The output of the voltage multiplier is used to …

Gating Methods For High-Voltage Silicon Carbide Power Mosfets, Audrey Dearien

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to assess the challenges associated with driving Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices, and to compare the potential gate drive methods for these devices which address those challenges. SiC power devices present many benefits that make them suitable for next generation automotive, power utility grid, and energy management applications. High efficiency, increased power density, and reliability at high-temperatures are some of the main benefits of SiC technology. However, the many challenges associated with these devices have prevented their adoption into industry applications. The argument is made in this thesis that the gate driver is a …

Flexible Custom Electric Skateboard, Caleb Adam Kelsay

Electrical Engineering

At Cal Poly traveling long distances only accessible by foot such as across campus or from the car park to class can be tiring and time-consuming. While not physically demanding, the trek consumes time in our tight college life schedule. To improve our time efficiency this project provides a relatively lightweight, powered solution to quickly and effectively travel long distances while maintaining full control and safety even on hills, a current limitation of traditional skateboards.

This electric skateboard includes the battery capacity to travel all around campus on a single charge with a compact and flexible skateboard design that provides …

The Zephyr Charge: A Wind-Powered Usb Charger, James Dean Carson, John Pina Lopez Iii

Electrical Engineering

The Zephyr Charge project is to design and build a cell phone charger using a small wind turbine generator that can be useful to the fishermen community, namely fishermen of third world countries. The generator will output to USB for ease of charging capability. The size of the whole system should be light enough to move around, and the turbine itself will be mountable onto an edge of a wall. The goal of this project is to design and build a compact and easy to use cell phone charger, which is also efficient.

In order to be a practical product, …